Vernon Johnson, owner of Johnson Brothers TV & Appliance in Bend, died Sunday.

He was 91.

“He was just a hardworking, honest man,” said Bob Johnson, Vernon’s son and the current manager of the appliance store. “Back when he started his business, people loaned him money on a handshake. That’s how much they trusted him.”

Johnson Brothers TV & Appliance has been a staple of the Bend area for 6½ decades. Vernon Johnson started the store in 1950, after moving to Bend from Salem.

“He started real small, in his garage,” Bob Johnson said of his father.

Bob Johnson added that his father eventually moved into a location at NE First Street and NE Franklin Avenue in 1958. At that time, the store was named Home Center, before Vernon Johnson changed the name to Johnson Brothers TV & Appliance in 1980, as an homage to his grandsons, Bob Johnson said.

According to Bob Johnson, the business stayed at the Franklin location until the early 1970s and opened several other locations around Bend, before settling nearly two decades ago in its current location, 571 NE Azure Drive, near U.S. Highway 20, just east of Pilot Butte.

Bob Johnson said his father played an active role in the business he built, up until he had to step away from the day-to-day running of the company at the age of 81.

—Reporter: 541-617-7818, shamway@bendbulletin.com